Off-shell renormalization of the abelian Higgs model in the unitary gauge

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the abelian Higgs model in the unitary gauge can be renormalized off-shell by choosing appropriate interpolating fields, despite its non-renormalizability under standard power counting.

Contribution

It introduces a method for off-shell renormalization of the abelian Higgs model in the unitary gauge through specific field choices, challenging traditional views on its non-renormalizability.

Findings

Off-shell Green functions can be renormalized with proper field choices.

Analysis of singularities in the unitary gauge.

Provides a renormalization recipe for the model.

Abstract

We discuss the off-shell renormalization properties of the abelian Higgs model in the unitary gauge. The model is not renormalizable according to the usual power counting rules. In this paper, however, we show that with a proper choice of interpolating fields for the massive photon and the Higgs particle, their off-shell Green functions can be renormalized. An analysis of the nature of the extra singularities in the unitary gauge is given, and a recipe for the off-shell renormalization is provided.